Blind Cave-Shark by Mr--Jack
added Mar 14th 2009- 8421Views
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Artist's Comments
While not at all related to sharks or fish (and being almost entirely land-dwelling), the frightening display of teeth and pointed snout give this little-known creature its common name.
About a meter long at full stretch, its main prey are bats; it creates very low sounds with specialised organs on its back, which it then uses to create sonar images, having a highly intricate bone structure to pick up the returning sounds. When it hears a bat close enough it launches itself upwards with its powerful front legs and hits the bat with the specialised 'club' of bone on its lower jaw. A combination of long teeth and a dislocatable jaw ensures it catches the stunned bat as it falls from the air. The protruding lower jaw also protects its somewhat delicate teeth from breaking against rocks, since they lie flat against it while the mouth is closed.
Little else is known about the creature, and it either exhibits no sexual dimorphism or the few specimens seen have all been of one sex.
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